The markets opened higher on signs that jobs and retails sales may be firming up. The Dow rose 59 points to 12,449 while Nasdaq climbed 17 points to 2520.
On the upside
Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD), made a bid for Alltel, the 5th largest U.S. wireless carrier, for $27 billion from private equity firms, according to media reports.LiveDeal (Nasdaq: LIVE) which operates online classified and yellow pages services implemented a partnership with Google's AdWords advertising platform.
Communications equipment maker ADC Telecommunication (Nasdaq: ADCT) posted lower 2nd quarter profits, but raised its outlook for the rest of the year.
On the downside
Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN) posted higher revenues and earnings, but the results fell short of expectations.Shares of tax preparer Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX) fell after the company reported higher revenues and lower earnings due to rising expenses. It also processed fewer tax returns.
Shares of Martek Biosciences (Nasdaq: MATK) pulled back from new highs after reporting revenues and earnings that beat expectations, but lowered its outlook for the quarter due to production delay. The company sells nutritional oils and dietary supplements as well as infant formula.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin
of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The
Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks rose 6 points to 750.
